, an admired general, and mareschal of France, was born Feb. 14,
, an admired
general, and mareschal of France, was born Feb. 14, 1652,
the son of Roger d'Hostun, marquis of la Beaume. Like
other young nobles of France, he chose the army for his
profession, and at the age of sixteen had the royal regiment
of Cravates, in which command he signalized himself for
ten years. In 1672 he attended Louis XIV. into Holland,
obtained soon after the confidence of Turenne, and distinguished himself on several occasions. He was raised to
the rank of lieutenant-general in 1693, and in 1697 was
employed in an embassy to England. On the renewal of
war, he commanded on the Rhine in 1702, and soon after
was created mareschal of France. He distinguished himself in the ensuing year against the Imperialists, and
gained a brilliant advantage, which, however, he rather
disgraced by his pompous manner of announcing it. He
was less fortunate in 1704, when being engaged against
the English in the plains of Hochstedt, near Blenheim, he
was defeated and brought a prisoner to England, where he
remained for seven years. Soon after this battle, he said,
in a kind of peevish compliment to the duke of Marlborough, “Your grace has defeated the finest troops in
Europe
” “You will except, 1 hope,
” said the duke,
“the troops who beat them.
” His residence in England,
say the French historians, was not without its use to France;
as he very much assisted in detaching queen Anne from tha
party of the allies, and causing the recall of the duke of
Marlborough. He returned to Paris in 1712, and was
created a duke. In 1726 he was named secretary of state,
which honour he did not long retain, but died March 3,
1723, at the age of seventy-six. He was a man of good
talents and character; his chief fault being that he was
rather inclined to boasting.